Consumer Finance

On January 12, 2009, Paul D. S. Edwards filed a petition with the FCC for an expedited clarification and declaratory ruling regarding the Commission’s rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Specifically, Edwards asks the Commission to clarify whether a creditor may place autodialed or prerecorded message calls to a telephone number associated with wireless service that was provided to… Read More

In Okefenokee Aircraft, Inc. v. Primesouth Bank, 2009 WL 724113 (Ga. App. 2009), the Georgia Court of Appeal was asked to address whether the UCC prohibited entry of judgment in favor of a creditor on a contractual balance notwithstanding the fact that the creditor had repossessed, but not yet sold, the collateral.  The Court concluded that “a secured creditor can… Read More

In Allers-Petrus v. Columbia Recovery Group,C08-4433FDB (D.Or. 2009), Judge Burgess held that a debtor's failure to disclose a pending FDCPA claim in her Ch. 13 Bankruptcy schedules judicially estopped her from bringing those claims later in the district court.  Nor could the debtor re-open her bankruptcy to cure the issue.  Judge Burgess explained: Plaintiff Allers-Petrus filed her bankruptcy petition with… Read More

In Robinson v. Equifax Information Services, Inc. __ F.3d __ (4th Cir. 2009), the Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit affirmed in part a jury verdict against a credit reporting agency for $200,000 in actual damages under FCRA.  The facts arose out of an identity theft situation:    In April 2000, Robinson discovered that a woman named Nicole Antoinette… Read More

In Satterfield v. Simon and Schuster, 2007 WL 1839807 (N.D.Cal. 2007), Judge Wilken addressed what constitutes an “automatic telephone dialing system” and what constitutes “consent” under the TCPA.  The case arose from promotional text messages sent to cellular telephones regarding a new Steven King novel “Cell”.  The cellular telephone owners received the messages because they signed up for nextones.com to… Read More

In Rowe v. Educational Credit Management Corporation, 2009 WL 692006 (9th Cir. 2009), the Court of Appeals ruled on whether the Plaintiffs had pleaded a claim under the FDCPA against ECMC – a guaranty agency under the Higher Education Act of 1965 – or whether ECMC was exempt because its collection activity was “incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation.” … Read More

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today allowed the National Association of Screening Agencies, the California Bankers Association, and the Consumer Data Industry Association leave to file amicus curiae briefs in support of Defendant-Appellee’s Petition for Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc.  See the Order here and my article here regarding the split of authority between the federal and state appellate… Read More

In Drew v. Equifax, 2009 WL 595459 (N.D.Cal. 2009), Judge Illston held that a furnisher was on notice of a consumer dispute when the CRA merely sent a letter to the furnisher notifying the furnisher that it had deleted the customer’s trade-line because the account was fraudulent.   Judge Illston explained:   Chase contends that it is entitled to summary judgment… Read More

See my March 4, 2009 article in the Consumer Financial Services Law Report here. Source:  Consumer Financial Services Law Report. Copyright 2009 by LRP Publications, P.O. Box 24668, West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4668. All rights reserved. For more information on this or other products published by LRP Publications, please call 1-800-341-7874 or visit their website at: www.shoplrp.com Read More

In Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court, __ Cal.App.4th __ (2009), the Fourth District Court of Appeal denied relief under the UCL for a party who purchased Kwikset locks but claimed it was misled by Kwikset's "Made in U.S.A. label".  The Court of Appeal stated: Absent a showing of some complaint about the cost, quality, or operation of the mislabeled locksets… Read More